UF coach Dan Mullen wants the No. 13 Gators (8-3) to give the Seminoles (5-6) one final indignity and end a five-game losing streak in the heated rivalry.

A UF win also would snap FSU’s string of 36 straight bowl appearances.

“That’d be great,” Mullen said with a smile. “I'd love to do it. But that's what rivalry games are all about, right?”

When it comes to Florida State, the role of villain suits Mullen well.

The Gators were 4-0 and winning by an average score of 36-12 when Mullen was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2005-08.

Since a 37-26 win in 2012 at Tallahassee, the Gators have lost five times by an average score of 31-13.

“That’s not good,” Mullen said. “Obviously in rivalry games those are things that you don’t like. I’ll tell you, if you’re on the winning side of it it’s great to be on a long winning streak in rivalry games. If you’re on the losing side it doesn’t feel good for you or your fans.

“So, we have go try to start a new streak.”

The Gators are four-point favorites and coming off their second consecutive game with at least 35 points and more than 500 yards of total offense. UF failed to score an offensive touchdown during losses to FSU in 2015 and 2016.

Granted, Florida faced a pair of porous defenses the past two weeks in South Carolina and Idaho. But Mullen's offense ranks 56th nationally. UF was 110th, 116th, 112th the past three seasons under Jim McElwain.

“That’s good,” Mullen said of his offense’s recent output. “I like that. … I think guys are getting comfortable with what we’re doing.”

UF gained 600 yards during a 63-10 win this past Saturday against overmatched Idaho. Mullen did not focus on the inflated yardage total, rather his team’s ability to carry out the game plan efficiently rather than merely capitalize on the disparity in talent.

“I told our guys, ‘This is how we’re going to execute. We’re going to come right out of the gate and execute,’ ” Mullen said. “Obviously, we were going to have some mismatch advantages on the field last week. I didn’t want it to be a game where, ‘Hey, would we just, we didn’t block anybody, we tossed it and our running back was able to just run people over and score a touchdown.’ We didn’t really execute in the passing game, we just ran by him and threw a touchdown pass.

“I just wanted us to execute cleanly and I think we really did that last week.”

Meanwhile, the Seminoles slipped by then-No. 20 Boston College 22-21, capitalizing on Eagles’ coach Steve Addazio’s decision to punt on fourth-and-1 rather than go for a first down at the FSU 40-yard line.

The win ended the Seminoles’ three-game skid during which FSU allowed more than 40 points in each game and was outscored by 97 points.

The Seminoles are ripe for the taking in coach Willie Taggart’s first season. Mullen hopes the Gators can capitalize for his players, the program and the fan base.

“It’s definitely tough,” junior receiver Josh Hammond said coping with the losing streak. “You definitely get the backlash from it from social media to a lot of other different things that go into play.”

A Gators’ win would position them to receive a bid to a New Year’s Six bowl game, possibly a visit to the Peach Bowl to face unbeaten UCF.

Hammond said he and his teammates are focused on finishing their season on a high note more than adding to the Seminoles’ misery.

“I think it's more about ourselves and the things that we want for our future as far as the different bowl games we could go to if we come out with a win,” Hammond said. “I don't really think we're too much worried about just spoiling for them, I think we're worried about the success we can have in the future if we go out and execute like we're supposed to on Saturday."